Automobile.



E. MICHELIN.

AUTOMOBILE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT'. 5, 19m.

1 1 9 1 ,809. Patented July 18, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

ic/zelim E. MICHELIN.

AUTOMOBILE.

WFLlCATION FlLED OCT. 5, 19M.

Patented July 18, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 EMiohelzn.

E. MICHELIN.

AUTOMOBILE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 5, 1914. 1 1 9 1 ,809. Patented July 18, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

. .I I I I 16\ W l3 i w 25 1 izMiche-lin.

EUGENE mrc'nnmn, or JaonsonvrLLn',.FLonrna-{ AUTOMOBILE;

menace.

To all whom it may concern i Be it known that I, EUGENE MICHELIN, a

citizen of the United States, residing at- Jacksonville, in thecounty of-Duval' and State of Florida, have invented certain newand usefulImprovements in Automobiles,"

- and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as. will enable others skilled 1n theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention comprehends certain new and useful improvements inautomobiles and has for its primary object to' provide an improved andnovel form of automobile Which will be constructed in such manner thatthe strain will be equally'distributed upon the wheel of the vehicle andall of the wheels may be connected so as to turn when turning thevehicle to either slde.

The invention has for another object to may readily turn toeither sideor move vertically for a short distance without inter fering with therotation of the wheels upon rotation of the axles.

The invention has'for afurtherobject to provide an automobile in whichthe trucks "will be of such construction that four 'and provide improvedand novel turning" and driving means for the wheels, without materiallyincreasing the cost of the vehicle.- r p v Figs. 5 and'fi of thedrawing.

With the above and other objects in view as will become moreapparent asthe descrip- -'tion proceeds, the invention consists in certain novelfeatures of construction, combi- For a completeunderstanding of my in-.

vention, referenceis to be had to the followin which having 'suitabcommodate bearing. be.

Specificationof Letters Patent. l Pa jtent e d J 18,1916, .Applicationfiled October 5,1914. Serial at. 865,122. i I

ing description and accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a body which is removiedfFig. 2' is'a l-ongir tudmal sectionand extends on the plane of top plan view my com- 'plete automobile withthe exceptionof the 60 line 2. 2 of Fig. 1,.looking in the directionindicated bythe arrow, the body also beingshownin this view mountedabove the truck.

and the vehicle being shown in a form of a motor truck or wagon, Fig. 3is a transverse vertical section substantially on 'theplane of r l1ne3-3 of F1g. 1 with the body of the vehide in position, Fig. 4 is aview-similar to Fig. '3 substantially onthe plane! of line 4-4 of Fig. 1with'the body in position,

Fig. 5.isan enlarged vertical longitudinal section to one of the hubsand spindles, showng the construction and mounting of the parts shown inFig. 5, looking at the other end of the hub and spindle and showing themanner in which these parts are mounted inthe frame of the truck, andFig. 7 is a frag n1entary elevation of a portion, of the steer- 1ngmechanism connected" with' the steering column.v

Referring. more particularly to the draw ings in whichsimilar referencecharacters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, 1designates the main" I transverse member .of each .of the trucks havingthe pairsor semi circular arms 1 mounted centrally upon itsoppositegends. and in any suitable and well "lmown manner so that the.opposite outwardly curved endsof the arms 1 may moveu'pwardly or downwrdly upon engagement of the wheels 2 of the vehicle with an obstructionor depression in the path of thevehicle.

Theouter ends of the arms 1' are bifur- H catedyas shown at4 to providethe upper and lower supporting fingers -5 between wh'ich'tthe spindlesare" positioned and supported bytheupper and lower supporting pins 6,threaded through said fingers 5,.a-s

will be readily understood referring to .positloned in annular channels8v formed in the inner end .offthe .hub 9 of oneoffthe wheels2engaged-around thespir'idle 10-and.

e channels) 11 formed in its inner face ad'acent jits-o' 11 posite endto, ac-. l2 ipositioned in 75 same, Fig; 6 is an end elevation of thecorresponding and opposite channels 13 formed in the under face-ofthespindle 10. It will be understood that the spindle 10 is loosely mountedupon the outer section 14 of the axle 15, said outer section 14 beingconnected with 'the main or central driving I section of the axle 15 bya section 16 and by a slidable section 18. The section 16 is connectedto the outer section 14 by a univer- 'sal joint 17, and the slidablesection'18 is connected to the section 16 by a second uni versal joint19. The slidable section 18 has a squared free end slidably engaged inthe socket 20 formed in the end of said main or central section 15' ofthe axle.

It will be understood that the inner end of the axle section 14 isenlarged and bifurcated, as shown at 21 where the universal joint 17 isformed, while its outer extremity is passed through the clutch member.22 mounted upon the other end of the hub 9 and bearing against the outerend of the spindle 10, the axle section 14 being then squared, as shownat 23 with a threaded portion 24 outwardly of the squared portion 23 toreceive a nut 25 to hold the second clutch member 26 upon thesquaredportion 23 of the axle section 14 and in engagement with the firstmentioned clutch member 22 and thereby lock the hub 9 of the wheels 2for rotation with the axle section 14. It

' will be understood that a suitable cap 27 is threadedupon the outerend of the hub 9 to inclosethe clutch members 22 and 26 as well as thenut 25 of the hub 14 and thereby prevent foreign matter from reaching.the interior of the hub 9.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the spindle 10 is stationary andthe wheel 2 is rotated by the axle section 14 through the clutch members22 and 26.

When it is desired to turn the wheels 2 for the purpose of turning thevehicle in either direction, the steering column 28 may be revolved byany suitable steering wheel or the like (not shown), to swing the arm 29pro jecting from one side of the steering column 28 and at right anglesto the same adjacent its the lower end of said steering column 28. Thearm 29 has pivoted to its free end the rod 30 which extends forwardly atan angle andhas its free end pivoted to the end of the arm 31 projectinglaterally from the turn bolt 32 which is mounted in a suitable support33 depending from the vehicle body 34, it being understood that asuitable opening 35- provided in the side of the support 33 for the arm31 to extend through. The turn bolt 32 has a pair of oppositely directedside see arms 36 and 37, the arm 36 being pivoted .te=- q.

the rod 38' with its forward end inturned connected with an arm 39projecting from the knuckle of the forward left wheel of the fronttruckwhile the rear end of the rod 38 is connected with a similar arm 40projectiaensoe ing from the rear left Wheel of the front truck, the arm40 being considerably longer than the arm 39 whereby the left wheels ofthe front truck will be turned at the proper angles and the properdistances for turning the vehicle to the left or right; as desired. Itwill be understood that the front left wheel and front right wheel ofthe forward truck have their knuckles connected by the connectingsteering rod 41 which has its opposite ends pivoted to arms 42projecting forwardly and at an angle from the knuckles of said frontWheels 2 of the forward truck. It will also be understood that the rearleft Wheel and rear right wheel of the forward truck are also connectedby the connecting transverse steering rod 43 which has its opposite endsconnected with the arms 44 projecting forwardly from and at an angle tothe knuckles of said rear wheels of the forward truck.

Pivoted to the arm 37 of the turn bolt 32 are the rear steering rods 45and 46 the rod 45 being the shorter rod and connected with an arm 47projecting from the knuckle of the forward wheel 2 of the rear truckwhich arm is preferably slightly longer than the long arm 40 carried bythe knuckle of the rear left wheel of the forward'truck. The longer rearsteering rod 46 is connected at its rear end to an arm 48 projectingfrom the knuckle of the rear left wheel of the rear truck, the arm 48being considerably shorter than the arm 27 and about the same length ofthe arm 39 carried by the knuckle of the forward or front and left wheelof the forward truck. It will be understood that the forward right andleft wheels of the rear truckare connected by each of the transverseconnecting steering rod 49 which has its opposite ends connected withthe arm 50 projecting at an' angle to the knuckles of the said forwardleft and right wheels of the rear truck. It will also be understood thatthe rear left and ri ht wheels 2 of the rear rear truck thereby assuringthe turning of the left and right forward and rear wheels of the truckin the proper direction and distance with relation toone another.

From the foregoing it will be evident that upon operation of thesteering column 28, the turn: bolt 32 will be turned in the properdirection to swing the wheels of the front truck in one direction by thewheels of the rear truck or swung in'the reverse direction and at theproper angle to the body of the vehicle and the wheels of the fronttruck.

Positioned longitudinally of the vehicle beneath the body 53 thereof isa casing or support 54 which would rest upon and may -ets 58 projectingupwardly from the bottom of the casing 5 1.

The drive shaft 55 has a gear wheel 59 mounted thereon which is engagedby another gear wheel 60 mounted upon a shaft 61 leading from theengine, (not shown) inclosed in the front portion of the vehicle bodyand covered by the usual hood 62. It willbe understood that the shaft 61is pro.-

.vided with a suitable clutch 63 of conventional form, whereby theportion of the shaft. 61 upon which the gear 60 is mounted may be causedto rotate or remain stationary, as desired, during the operation of theengine.

It will be understood that the body 53 of the motor vehicle may be ofany form desired but is shown in mydrawings as being I in the form of awagon or large truck with the seat 64 in the front portion of the body,

' just in back of the steering column 28 which may have the steeringwheel mounted upon its upper end, if desired.

The body 53 is mounted upon a plurality of elliptical springs 66 whichare carried upon'the upper ends of the standards 67 mounted in anysuitable manner upon the extended reduced ends 68 of the main transversemembers 1 of the front and rear truck, as shown at 69.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown andillustrated, it will be understoodthat minor changes in the details ofconstruction and arrangement of parts may be made within the scope ofthe appended claims without departing fromthe spirit of the inventionor'sacrificing any of,

the advantages thereof.

What is claimed is 1. A motor vehicle including a pair of trucks, eachtruck having a transverse member, oppositely curved arm's on opposite,ends of said member, wheels v mounted in said arms, axles connectingsaid wheels at the opposite sides of the trucks, means for driving theaxles, a casing for the driving means,

a body supported above the trucks, and A inpresence of two witnesses.

means connecting the wheels together for turning them in eitherdirection, a knuckle connection between the wheels and axles, a steeringcolumn, a turn bolt, means connected with the steering column and theturn bolt to turn said turn bolt upon rotation of the steering column ineither direction and projecting in opposite directions from the turnbolt, connections between one of said arms of the turn bolt and thewheels of the front truck to turn'the same upon rotation of the turnbolt, and connections between the remaining arms of the turn bolt andthe wheels of the rear .truckto turn the same in .a reverse direction.

v2. A truck for motor vehicles comprising a transverse member, a pair ofarms pivotally mounted at points centrally between their ends uponsaidinember, spindles pivotally mounted upon the ends of said arms,wheels journaled upon the spindles, a steering mechanism connected tosaid spindles,

a support carried by said transverse member, a central axle sectionJOIIIIliLlGd upon said support, outer axle sections securedto saidwheels, intermediate axle sections hav- 3. "Atruck for motor vehiclescomprising a a transverse member, "a pair of arms pivotally mounted atpoints centrally between journaled upon the spindles, a support car'-ried by said transverse member, a central axle section journaled uponsaid support, outer axle sections secured to said wheels, intermediateaxle sections having universal connection with the central and outeraxle sections, and a drive shaft journaled upon the support and gearedto the central axle sections. Y

4. A truck for motor vehicles comprising a transverse member, a. pair ofarms pivotally mounted at points between their ends upon said member,spindles carried by said arms, wheels journaled u on said spindles, asupport carried by sai member, a" drive shaftjournaledupon said supportand universally connected between said drive shaft and said wheels, acentral axle section jour- EUGENE MICHELIN. Witnesses:

PHIL S. MAY

THOS. R. Pimrr'r.

